To my knowledge, not a single journalist or expert in the entire world has yet used this publicly available information and done the simple math involved. Yet this is the body that's going to be receiving Western help and money, if any is offered to help bring a new government to Syria.

Name

Political Affiliation

Sectarian Background

1

Burhane Ghalioun

Independent Left

Sunni Arab / Homs

2

Samir Nashar

Damascus Declaration Council

Sunni Arab / Aleppo

3

Muhammad Taifur

Muslim Brotherhood

Sunni Arab / Hama

4

Basma Kodmani

Independent Left

Sunni Arab (spikesperson)

5

Abdelbasit Sida

Independent Kurdish Activist

Kurdish

6

Abdel Ahad Steifo

Christian: Assyrian Democratic Movement

Christian / Hassakeh

7

Ahmad Ramdan

Old SNC, Islamist (Syrian Hamas Adviser)

Sunni Arab

8

Ahmad Sayyid Youssef

Muslim Brotherhood

Sunni Arab / Homs

9

Abdel Hamid Atassy

Damascus Declaration Council

Sunni Arab / Homs

10

Abdel Ilah Milhem

Tribal Coalition

Sunni Arab / Homs

11

Emadiddine Rasheed

Old SNC, Islamist (Religion Instructor)

Sunni Arab / Damascus

12

Jabr Al-Shoufi

Damascus Declaration

Arab / Druze

13

Wa’el Mirza

Old SNC, Islamist

Sunni Arab

14

Muhammad Bassam Youssef

Muslim Brotherhood

Sunni Arab / Homs

15

Anas Al-Abdeh

Damascus Declaration Council, Islamist

Sunni Arab / Damascus

16

Kathryn Al-Talli

Local Coordination Committees, Christian

Christian

17

Motei Bateen

LCCs, Islamist (Imam)

Sunni Arab /Deraa (Hauran)

18

Najib Ghadbian

Old SNC, Independent Islamist

Sunni Arab / Damascus

19

Nazeer Hakeem

Muslim Brotherhood

Sunni Arab

The Presidential Council:

1

Burhane Ghalioun

Independent Left

Sunni Arab / Homs

2

Samir Nashar

Damascus Declaration Council

Sunni Arab / Aleppo

3

Muhammad Taifur

Muslim Brotherhood

Sunni Arab / Hama

4

Abdelbasit Sida

Independent Kurdish Activist

Kurdish

5

Abdel Ahad Steifo

Christian: Assyrian Democratic Movement

Christian / Hassakeh

Note that the Presidential Council is much more balanced with only one Islamist, and the remaining names include a leftist, a liberal, a Christian, and a Kurd. This seems, however, to be more for show to conceal the imbalance in the overall leadership.

Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean the actual leadership is highly Islamist, but it does indicate that the official leadership, chosen with U.S. participation, is far more balanced with only one Islamist.

It should be clear that none of this reflects on the courageous Syrian people who have stood up unarmed to the massive repression and killing power of the regime which has killed over 3000 civilians in cold blood. Indeed, the majority of these people -- in contrast to what might turn out to be true in Libya or Egypt -- don't want to be ruled by a Sunni Arab Islamist government. In that sense, this is a betrayal of their bravery and aspirations.

Now, with your permission, I will have a brief angry outburst:

Those fools in the U.S. government helped produce an official leadership that is highly Islamist, perhaps much more so than the actual participants. Might not U.S. interests require pushing for genuine moderates to lead? After all, these are the people likely to get Western money and assistance. When it had a choice, the Obama administration preferred to empower the enemies of America and the West. (Shall I add, once again?)

One more time, this list isn’t a clear indication of the composition of those fighting in Syria, yet it suggests that U.S. policy prefers to help enemies take power in Syria when it could have very easily done otherwise.